General Thomas D. Waldhauser, head of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM), visited last Tuesday, the Agadez air base which will be used for the deployment of drones, in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel.
He met with US troops, members of the Niger armed rorces and civilian authorities during his visit.
“We are here at the request of the Nigerien government authorities and in close coordination with them after negotiating an agreement to assist in the upgrades project of airbase 201”, General Waldhauser said in a statement on the site of the US embassy in Niger.
The AFRICOM boss did not comment on the evolution of the works in progress at the Mano Dayak airport of Agadez.
Still according to the press release, the location of the base will improve and facilitate the sharing of information with Niger and other countries such as Chad, Mali and Nigeria.
In September 2014, the embassy said that Agadez represents “both geographically and strategically, an attractive option for installing / deploying the ISR device (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) because of its proximity to threat areas in the region and the complexity of conducting operations over long distances”.
The cost of the works is estimated at $ 50 million (about 25 billion Francs CFA), according to the report of the 114th Session 2015-2016 of the US Congress.
Established in 2007 by the Department of Defense, the United States Africa Command coordinates all US military and security activities on the continent.
Ibrahim Manzo Diallo